Romanian environmental activist takes assault case to Human Rights Court after local judges pardon attackers

Gabriel Păun, a Romanian environmental activist and head of local NGO Agent Green, decided to take the case of his assault by loggers to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) after local judges pardoned his attackers, more than 8 years later.

After prolonged investigations and trials following the assault on Gabriel Păun in the Retezat Mountains, the Alba Iulia Court of Appeal recently decided to pardon the attackers. Moreover, the court ordered Păun to pay RON 2,500 in legal costs to the attacker, Lascu Cornel. In turn, Lascu Cornel must pay the activist RON 7,000 in damages.

However, the lengthened process was already punishment enough, Gabriel Păun says.

"Justice betrayed me anyway because it lingered for so many years. This is a rare case where the aggression was filmed, and the perpetrators identified. Of the six individuals who attacked me, only one was brought to trial and eventually pardoned. Their conviction should have been quick and severe. But this gross error of justice is a signal to wrongdoers that they can be violent and go unpunished," Păun said, quoted in the press release.

Those who attacked Gabriel Păun in May 2015 were representatives of local authorities and the company that had started illegal works in the Râul Alb Valley of the Retezat Mountains. The works involved deforestation on slopes and concreting the riverbed to build micro-hydro power plants. The work was definitively stopped in court by the Natura 2000 NGO Coalition in 2016.

The case of Păun’s assault was moved from one prosecutor to another until the statute of limitations came from the Hațeg Court. However, the Court of Justice of the European Union decided in July 2023 that decisions to terminate criminal proceedings due to the statute of limitations are contrary to European law. Gabriel Păun appealed based on the CJEU's decision in early September 2023, but the Alba Iulia Court of Appeal did not take this decision into account.

"I feel wronged and will immediately and without hesitation address the European Court of Human Rights. Romania simply does not change, although it leads alongside Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey in terms of convictions. I wonder how our head of state and our diplomats explain this situation when they are in the international environment. I wonder if Romania is prepared for another conviction because it failed to protect me and do me justice," Păun said.

Earlier this year, Gabriel Păun was included in Politico’s